The Liaison
By Pierre R. Wheaton
6/7/2012
Welcome to "The Liaison." I thought that the 'Eye of Heaven' would be the last fanfic that I would write because I wanted to start working on an original fantasy work. But being that I finished 'Eye' with a wedding invitation, it would make sense that I would put out one last piece that would cover THE wedding of the Oh, My Goddess universe. I don't intend on this being a very long piece, and this time, I want to try and keep the tone light hearted.
But as I've learned since writing 'Song of the Goddesses' and its sequels, these things take on a life of their own, and don't always end up the way I intended. So it may wind up going longer than 'Eye' and have our favorite couple saving the Universe yet again.
As usual, all the normal disclaimers apply. (This work is not and should not be considered part of OMG canon, the characters included in this work are the property of Kosuke Fujishima-sensei, but the narration is mine), and surprisingly, I have had no real negative feedback from those who have read my pieces. To those who have read this stuff and found it entertaining, thanks for your kind words of encouragement.
This piece is set approximately one week after Keiichi and the Goddesses return to Earth after their adventure with the Eye of Heaven, so please read 'Eye' as necessary to get caught up.
Enjoy.
©2012, Pierre R. Wheaton
Chapter 1
One Week after Keiichi and the Goddesses return to Earth.
1:30pm October 22nd
Keiichi walked into the Tea Room to find Belldandy sitting at the low table engrossed in a magazine. Which was not surprising to Kei because in addition to cooking, cleaning and taking care of the temple chores, Belldandy also loved to spend hours reading magazines. Mostly to find new recipes to try out on Keiichi. The amount of knowledge about human life that she attained reading books and magazines never failed to astound him. Belldandy had fully immersed herself into living as a human homemaker and was better at it in the short time she was on Earth than even the most accomplished housewife.
What was surprising to him was the type of magazine she was reading. It was a bridal magazine with hundreds of pictures of models wearing beautiful and no doubt, expensive wedding gowns. He had a feeling that this turn of events was going to be trouble and was about to duck out of the room before Belldandy called out to him.
"Keiichi?" she asked.
"Y-yes, Belldandy?" Keiichi responded with a slight stammer.
"What is a wedding?", as she cocked her head in confusion.
Keiichi gulped, broke out in a cold sweat and struggled to gather his faculties together. He thought to himself, "Don't tell me Belldandy wants to get married! I'm not sure I can handle that right now!"
Nervously, Keiichi responded, "Well Belldandy, a wedding is a ceremony where a man and a woman exchange vows in front of their family and friends that they will love each other and pledge to spend the rest of their lives together. When two people do that, it's called marriage. Why do you ask?"
Belldandy said "I was just reading through this magazine and I see so many lovely dresses, and I'd love to be able to wear one of these just for you I think that I'd look very nice in one of them."
That was the understatement of all time.
"Bell, you'd look stunning in any dress you wore. It doesn't have to be a wedding dress."
"I know, Keiichi, but wouldn't you love to see me in a dress like this one?" she said, holding up a page of a particularly fetching gown. She had that look on her face that Keiichi could never resist, a look of innocence with a tiniest touch of naiveté, and...the puppy dog eyes. No one could do the puppy dog eyes like Belldandy.
Not that she really needed to employ that tactic of persuasion as Keiichi would do pretty much whatever she asked him to do with few exceptions. But when she put on the puppy dog eyes, any attempt at resistance by Keiichi was doomed to fail most spectacularly.
Keiichi let his imagination go as he visualized that dress on one of such a heavenly visage as Belldandy. The sheer beauty of such thoughts almost overwhelmed him and caused him to go over all wobbly in the knees.
He recovered and asked "So Belldandy, why are you suddenly so interested in wedding dresses. Don't Gods and Goddesses have marriages and weddings in Heaven?
Belldandy said, "No, Keiichi. If a God and Goddess want to spend their lives together, they just have to declare their intentions to each other and the declaration is automatically registered through their connections with Yggdrasil. And they aren't required to say how long they will stay together. They can stay together for one day or a thousand years. Because Gods and Goddesses live such a long time, there's no point to saying that they will stay together until they die because we don't really die unless killed in battle."
Keiichi said, "If you want to have an idea of what a marriage is like, look at what we're doing." He sat down at the table next to Bell. "We declared our love for each other in the presence of Kami-sama and your fellow goddesses as well as your sisters. We live together, we're making a home for each other and we promised to spend the rest of our lives together. So we're as close to being married as we can get without the wedding ceremony. In some ways, what we did in Heaven is like a wedding. The only thing is, that in the eyes of our friends and loved ones down here on Earth as well as the law of the land, we're just two people living together as boyfriend and girlfriend.
"For us to be married in Japan, we'd have to exchange vows in the presence of someone who is allowed to witness those vows as an official of the government. Then, we'd be considered married in the eyes of the government as well as our friends and family on Earth. If we were to tell them that we declared our love for each other in Heaven, they'd never believe us. Don't forget, Belldandy. To Megumi and the rest of our friends, you're a human, not a Goddess.
"Also Belldandy, the whole wedding ceremony can be a very big deal down here on Earth. People can spend a lot of money to put one of those things on, and there's guests to invite, and a hall to rent, and a photographer for the pictures, flowers, tuxedos for me and the groomsmen, and dresses for the bridesmaids and the purchase of wedding rings and...you just have to trust me on this one Bell. Weddings can be a big hassle. And we still haven't paid all of our bills yet. "
Belldandy looked at Keiichi for a few moments, and with her usually uncanny ability to get to the heart of a matter then said, "But they don't have to be, do they? A wedding ceremony can be just us and our friends and we can have it here at the Temple. We can get flowers from the temple garden, I can make any gown in this magazine as well as those tuxedo things. This doesn't have to cost us a lot of money or be a big bother at all. All we are doing is just what we did in Heaven, only on a smaller scale. What is different between what we are now, and really being married in the eyes of our friends and family?" Belldandy turned on the charm and the puppy dog eyes again and didn't say a word after that.
Keiichi stood there dumbfounded. He thought to himself, "Damn, did Belldandy just railroad me into asking her to get married? Boy, is she good. But if you think about it, we're already pretty much acting like a young married couple. Although we did things in reverse in that we're living together before getting married. All we'd have to do is get a government official to witness the vows and complete the paperwork in a government office. And we can have a nice ceremony and reception at the temple. But what about the hassle of who to invite, and I also have to get her a wedding ring. That will cost a bunch.
"But I do love her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and she's definitely worth it. I wonder if this means that I'll have to meet her parents and get their blessing. Keima and Takano love Bell, they'll approve in a heartbeat."
A bunch of questions and potential scenarios swirled around in his head and it was going to take some time to get on top of it all. But overall, he thought that with all that had been going on in their lives since he and Belldandy first met,.maybe marriage wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. It can't be any harder than some of the adventures they've had. Can it?
Keiichi said, "Well Belldandy, in order to do this, there are certain things that have to be done.
First of all, I have to propose to you."
Belldandy cocked her head again, and said "What does that mean?"
Keiichi replied, "To propose to someone means that they have to formally ask that person to marry them. It's usually done as a surprise in a romantic setting. The traditional way is that the man gets down on one knee before the woman and asks her to marry him. He then would present her with an engagement ring as a sign of their commitment to marry. In our case, you already have a ring that I presented you, that could act as an engagement ring.
Belldandy said dreamily, "That sounds so romantic, Keiichi. I can't wait until the day you propose to me. You will propose won't you?"
"Bell, you can't make a man propose to you when you want him to. He has to do it on his own at a time and place he feels appropriate."
"So, what comes after proposing?" Belldandy asked excitedly.
"Well, in most countries, the couple has to meet each others parents and ask for their approval. My parents aren't a problem, they love you and would approve in a minute. But being that you're a Goddess and I've never met your parents, I'm not sure how we'd deal with that situation. But assuming that your parents approve, then we can get started on the wedding preparations. The guest list, the clothes for the wedding party as well as the bride and groom. The format of the ceremony and so on."
Kei continued. "See, Belldandy, we put the cart before the horse..."
Bell interrupted, "What does a cart and a horse have to do with planning a wedding?"
Keiichi stifled a chuckle. In all the years Belldandy and her sisters had lived on Earth, they learned a lot about human customs, but they still had much to learn about some of the more quirkier sayings and colloquialisms. It always amused Keiichi when one of the goddesses didn't have a clue of what he was talking about when he used a phrase they weren't familiar with.
He said, "Belldandy, putting the cart before the horse means that we did some things out of sequence. Usually two people in love with each other as we are, don't move in and live together until they are married."
"Oh I see, so we should have been married before moving in with each other?"
"Yes, but there's nothing we can do about it now. Obviously, we could not have known how things were to unfold as we've gone through life with each other over the years. It's not a bad thing. What matters most is what we do for the future."
Belldandy stood up and put her arms around Keiichi. She looked into his eyes, caressed his cheek, and said, "Keiichi, the future means nothing if you're not there to share it with me. As long as we can face it together, the future will take care of itself." She then wrapped him up in a big hug and kissed him passionately.
Chapter 2
1:40pm October 22nd
Keiichi left the house and headed to the garage. His head was still swimming from all the craziness that had occurred since he and the other Goddesses had come back to the Temple after the whole Eye of Heaven affair. The events of their time in Heaven had put Belldandy in the mood for some serious alone time with Keiichi, so she kept him within the dimensional portal she had erected in his room for their more private moments for a full three days of continuous lovemaking. No doubt that Urd and Lind knew what the amorous couple were up to since they had not seen hide nor hair of Kei and Bell since they returned to the temple. And Urd certainly wasn't going to cook any food, so she ordered take out for three days straight and quite naturally, stuck Keiichi with the bill.
And considering that when Lind wasn't working out, she was eating in preparation for working out, so the amount of take out coming to the temple was enough to feed a small army.
And now Belldandy had gotten the idea into her pretty little head that they should get married.
Keiichi wasn't against the idea of marriage per se, but he had to figure out all the myriad details of planning a wedding, and the first thing on the list was how and when to propose to her. And before he could propose to his Goddess, he needed a source of income.
Which meant finding a job. And considering that the only marketable skill that Keiichi had was fixing motorcycles, that meant going over to Chihiro's shop and begging to have his old job back. He wasn't expecting Chihiro to have any mercy on him. He hadn't put in a full day's work in the shop in over six months, and surely she had already hired a new mechanic and shop assistant by then. But the other motorcycle shops in the city needed mechanics with a lot more experience than Keiichi, and at least he had a work history with Chihiro.
Keiichi hopped aboard his trusty BMW and thumbed the starter. The bike turned over and settled into it's familiar Boxer idle. He was about to put his helmet on when Belldandy came out to the garage.
She was wearing a blue button-down blouse under a white vest and a long white ankle length skirt. Her hair was done up in its usual ponytail, held in place with a blue bow that matched the blouse. A clean, simple look that still let the Goddess's beauty show through.
"Where are you going, Keiichi?" she asked nicely.
"I'm heading over to Whirlwind. I have to talk to Chihiro and ask her to let me have my old job back. We're going to need some money to pay off these bills."
Belldandy said, "I don't think you'll have a problem getting your job back. Chihiro's a very nice person and she likes you." Bell smiled.
Keiichi said warily, "Just because Chihiro likes me doesn't mean she'll take it easy on me. You know how much of a handful she can be."
"But she's like that because she knows that you do good work. Do you want me to come with you?"
" It's not necessary, Belldandy. I can manage on my own."
"Okay, Keiichi. By the time, you get back, I'll have dinner ready. Hope you're hungry."
"I'm always hungry for your food, Bell."
Belldandy giggled and gave a small wave as Keiichi launched the bike and headed down to the street.
"So, has he proposed yet?"
"No, not yet." Bell said as she turned around to see her sister Urd standing behind her. As always, Urd was wearing something too short, too tight, and that showed off her most bountiful assets.
"Well he'd better, or I'll hit him with a thunderbolt every day until he does. I've been reading up on these wedding things. It seems they can be a lot of fun. Especially the night when the bridesmaids' take the bride out on one last night of freedom before the big day. Supposedly, a lot of sake gets drunk, and that sounds like my kind of party."
"I think that he'll propose soon. He told me that he has to do it on his own time and when he feels it's appropriate." Belldandy said as she looked out past the temple grounds towards Nekomi City. It was a pleasant fall day, the sun was shining, a mild breeze was blowing off the river towards the temple, and bright puffy clouds lazily floated by.
"Belldandy, if you're going to wait until he feels it's 'appropriate' to propose to you." Urd said, making air quotes with her hands, "You'll be waiting for a very long time. Look how long it took for him to finally say that he even loved you."
"True, but he couldn't have picked a better time or place to confess his feelings to me."
"I'll give him that. Keiichi doesn't always act like the most decisive man, but he certainly mustered up his courage that day. Heaven is still buzzing about that hearing."
"It truly was a glorious day. One that I will always remember."
"Well, our boy better get a move on, proposing to you. Would you like me to, um, 'provide a little medicinal assistance in the courage department?' " Urd said slyly.
"No, Urd. Keiichi will do it when he's good and ready, and I will be there to say 'yes.' " said Belldandy.
"Well, on you own head be it, Belldandy. We're not getting any younger, you know." Urd chuckled as she headed back to the temple.
Bell turned to see her sister off, and then turned back to watching the city unfold before her. In her mind, things were coming together beautifully. She was no longer burdened by the secret that had haunted her since Keiichi stood for the first class exam. The adventure with the Eye of Heaven was a success. She, Keiichi and the others had saved Yggdrasil from a calamity that could have spelled doom for Heaven and the universe. She and Keiichi had never been closer or more in love, and now, she was ready to take on the next great challenge in her life as a Goddess...marriage.
1:55pm
Keiichi pulled into the parking lot that housed the tiny shop that Chihiro called "Whirlwind." It was Chihiro that had given Keiichi a chance to fulfill his life long dream of building his own motorcycles. And for a while, he relished the opportunity. He worked hard, never turning up his nose at a job too small or too easy. Chihiro was pleased with his work.
But, as a result of him becoming a God, the battle with Hild and Marller that lead to Belldandy being severely injured, and then standing for the First Class exam and all the time spent in Heaven dealing with the Eye of Heaven business, he hadn't been to work in months.
He had some money saved up, and luckily, Belldandy was also very thrifty with her savings, and that tied the couple over for a while until they went to Heaven. But, now that they were back and all the utilities in the temple were shut off due to non-payment of bills, Keiichi needed to get back to work.
He parked the Beemer next to Chihiro's Krauser, and climbed the steps to the door. He wondered how Chihiro would react seeing her prodigal mechanic for the first time in a half a year. He hoped she wouldn't be too hard on him.
He opened the door and took in the view. The shop hadn't changed very much since he was in last. Posters of motorcycles and motorcycle racers lined the walls, decals of parts manufacturers were slapped on any blank surface. Parts of all shapes and sizes were stored neatly along the walls leaving the middle of the floor open to make repairs. All in all, a very tidy place, that left no doubt to even the most casual visitor that serious business was done here.
And Chihiro was at the cash register with a deep frown on her face as she had her nose in the accounting ledger. From the look on her face, business wasn't looking very good lately. Keiichi thought to himself, 'This may not be a good time to bother her.' He was ready to slip out before Chihiro looked up and straight at him.
"As I live and breathe, it's a ghost!" She said in mock fright. She leaped from behind the register and stood eye to eye with Keiichi. "It looks like a certain mechanic I used to employ here. What was his name again? Ah, yeah! Keiichi! Keiichi Morisato! Wonder whatever happened to him?"
She waved her arm in front of Keiichi's face as if trying to make it pass through him. But she only succeeded in lightly slapping Keiichi on the cheek. "For a ghost, he seems very lifelike, my hand doesn't even pass through him." She grabbed two mufflers off a nearby stand and crossed them menacingly in front of Keiichi's nose. "State your business and depart from me, foul spirit!" Chihiro shouted as she shook the muffler cross vigorously in front of Keiichi as if she was trying to ward him off.
For a moment, Keiichi contemplated following his former boss's lead and playing along, but decided against it. "Chihiro, it's really me, Keiichi,"
"The spirit knows my name, but he can't really be Morisato."
"Yes, it's really me, Chihiro."
"Prove it, tell me something that only the real live Keiichi would know about me."
"Well, you've never shown it to anybody, but you have a tattoo of a butterfly on your..."
"All right, Keiichi! Shut up! I believe you!", Chihiro roared with indignation.
"Told you."
"How do you know about my butterfly tattoo?"
"You were wearing a bikini during the last Motor Club retreat. As I recall, the butterfly was on the left..." Keiichi said drily.
"Shut up, Keiichi!"
"Okay. By the way, you looked pretty good in that two piece, almost as nice as Belldandy."
Chihiro blushed a deep red. "You really think so?"
Keiichi said "Yeah, I do."
"Hmm, seems that all that time with Belldandy has made you a lot bolder. Normally, the mere mention of me in a bikini, much less my tattoo, would have caused you to sputter and blubber like an idiot."
"You could say that Belldandy has finally made a man out of me." Keiichi said with confidence.
Chihiro composed herself quickly and said, "So, Morisato. What brings you here? Obviously, not to reminisce about me in a bikini, as delightful as that may seem."
"Simple, Chihiro. I need my old job back. I can start tomorrow, if you want, even at my old salary."
Chihiro eyed Keiichi suspiciously. "Why should I hire you back? Last time, you took off, and didn't even give me notice. Other than that one night when you came back for whatever it was Belldandy left here for you, I haven't seen nor heard from you since. I have some very important events coming up where I'm gonna need a top mechanic that I can count on, and I can't have him skipping out on me when I least expect it." Chihiro pointed her index finger at Keiichi. "How do I know I can count on you. Where were you for the past six months?"
Keiichi didn't like lying, but he certainly couldn't tell Chihiro that he was made a God, had to engage in a magical battle against his sworn enemy, and then go to Heaven to save the universe from a corrupted celestial computer that had gone haywire with a demonic virus. So he came up with an excuse that was only slightly more believable.
"Belldandy and I took a very long vacation."
"Where?"
"The United States."
"The United States?"
"Yeah, the United States."
"Where, in the United States?"
That brought Keiichi up short, of course, he had never been outside of Japan, much less to the US.
"San Francisco." he said hurriedly, picking a city at random.
"What's in San Francisco?"
"Belldandy's parents."
"Hmm, Belldandy's parents, huh?"
"Yep."
"Keiichi, at any given time you barely have enough money to get to Tokyo, how did you manage to spring for a vacation to the US?" Chihiro queried.
"Bell's parents took care of it."
"So does this mean..."
"It could be..."
"Have you picked a date yet?"
"I haven't even proposed to her."
"Well then. What the hell are you waiting for, you moron!"
"The right time. And I need money to pay for the wedding."
Chihiro erupted in a torrent of laughter. "Belldandy will be old and gray by the time YOU get around to proposing to her. You don't have the guts! Tell you what. If you promise me that you'll propose to Belldandy, I give you your job back. Deal?" She held her hand out.
Keiichi shook on it. "Deal!"
Chihiro continued, "But there's one other thing. You haven't touched a wrench in over six months. I have to see whether you can still pull your weight in this shop. Follow me."
Keiichi followed Chihiro around to the back of the shop where she had a large pile of something unknown under a blue tarp. She whipped off the cover, and there were three Suzuki GSX-R 750 motorcycles in various states of dis-assembly. Keiichi almost salivated when he saw the bikes. The GSX-R was one of his favorite Japanese bikes, but he never had the money to think about buying one.
Chihiro pointed to the bikes and said, "A friend of mine sold these bikes to me for a steal. But I've been so busy lately, that I haven't had time to work on them. What I want you to do is, choose one of these bikes, and use the parts from the other two to make it run. You have until closing time, which is at 8pm. It's now 2:00. If you can get one of these bikes to run with parts from the other two, and ride it to the corner and back, then you're rehired, and I'll throw in a 5000 yen bonus per pay period. That's a very generous offer. Take it or leave it."
Keiichi was never one to back down from a challenge. "I'll take it."
"I knew you couldn't refuse." Chihiro said with a grin. She held up a stopwatch. " I'll leave you alone. I have to figure out my books. The clock starts...NOW!" She winked at Kei and went back into the shop.
Keiichi immediately closed his eyes and let his third eye open. Through it, he could sense the vibrations and energies given off by the various parts and the bikes as a whole. In a matter of seconds, he could tell which bike was the best candidate to build. Running his hands over the parts of the sacrificial bikes, he could tell which parts were the healthiest and the least used. He grabbed his tool kit and set off to work. He let his God abilities combine with his natural aptitude for fixing mechanical devices take over and he worked with inhuman speed and accuracy. Inside of an half hour, he had determined the best engine of the three, disconnected it, and had it on the ground, ready to transplant.
Keiichi pulled the heads, examined the pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft and replaced the bad ones with the best ones from the parts bikes. He also replaced the worn cam shafts and cams as well as the timing chain and gears. The valves from the build bike as well as the transmission were already in good shape, so he left them alone. He then buttoned up the engine, and reattached it, threading the freshest chain through the best sprockets. He then turned to the wheels and suspensions.
He worked quickly and methodically, trusting his third eye completely to tell him which parts were still usable. It was as if his hands had a mind of their own and knew exactly what to do. He let himself get lost in the joy of doing what he loved to do best. Alone, he was working as fast as three expert mechanics. He didn't even bother to look at the clock, He didn't even care whether he got the build done on time. His mind was consumed with getting it done right.
Next to Belldandy, this is what Keiichi loved most. Getting his hands dirty, occupying his mind. The smells of oil, metal, rubber and gasoline. Feeling the parts in his hands and marveling at the technology and care that went into crafting such intricate parts that were subjected to such powerful forces as the controlled explosions of a combustion chamber, the meshing of the teeth of precision-cut gears at thousands of rpms. The flexing of springs under relentless pressure.
Hydraulics, pneumatics, all of it fascinated Keiichi and spoke to him in a way that only he could understand. Keiichi could always look at a part and see with his trained eye whether a part was still usable or not, but with his new God powers and abilities, the experience was even more personal. It was as if he could actually communicate with the parts, as if they had a mind and a voice of their own. They could tell him what was wrong with them and how to fix them.
Keiichi finally bolted the last part onto the build bike. He added oil and gas. It still needed a new paint and wax job, but it was clean and looked nice. He stepped back and gave the bike a last once over, and it suddenly came over him that he had accomplished by himself a project that a team of expert mechanics would have taken at least half a day to complete. He looked at his watch. It took him only a shade over three hours. Keiichi was sure that Chihiro would highly approve, but he had to make sure it ran first.
Keiichi slid the key into the ignition switch and thumbed the starter. The bike chuffed and spat, and then roared to life settling into a smooth and confident idle. The sound of the GSX-R firing up brought Chihiro out of the shop. She stared in utter disbelief at the completed bike.
At first, she couldn't believe that Keiichi pulled off such an ambitious build. She knew that she could barely pull off such a difficult project within the time allotted, even with her best pit crew from her racing days. She merely wanted to test Keiichi's resolve, she wasn't actually expecting him to complete the project. And she would have hired Keiichi back any ways because she was strapped for a decent mechanic at crunch time. But of course, Chihiro would never tell Keiichi that.
"I'll be damned, Keiichi. You actually did it. But is it ride-able?"
Keiichi said confidently, "Grab your helmet and take it for a spin."
Chihiro said, "That's a pretty cocky attitude. You better hope your bite is as big as your bark." She put on the helmet, mounted the bike, and checked the settings. "All the instruments work, lights check, brakes feel solid, nice clutch pull." She then twisted the throttle and wound the engine up to 10,000 rpm. It spun up effortlessly and sounded like it was full of power waiting to be unleashed. She walked the bike into the street, pulled in the clutch, hit the gas and launched the bike. The engine pulled like a freight train from idle to redline,
Chihiro expertly pulled a 100 foot long wheelie as the bike's massive rear wheel clawed for traction on the asphalt. She tore off down the street and headed to the local racetrack. Putting the bike through a few hot laps, she marveled at how the bike handled. It stayed planted on the best racing line through even the trickiest off-camber turns, and tracked as straight as a laser on the straightaways. The suspension was responsive to even the slightest shifts in weight, the transmission clicked through the gears like a fine Swiss watch, and the robust brakes hauled the bike down from triple-digit speeds with only two fingers needed on the lever. In her expert hands, the big Suzuki performed with the grace and precision of a top-flight prima ballerina.
Under her helmet, Chihiro had a smile on her face as wide as the Grand Canyon. Only her best racing bikes could have exceeded the performance of this build. If she hadn't known better, she could have sworn that this bike was fresh from the factory.
When Chihiro returned back to the shop, she roared into the parking lot, executed a perfect donut and dismounted. She walked up to Keiichi, handed him her helmet and nonchalantly said, "Not bad, see you at 8 am tomorrow." But Keiichi could tell that despite her unflappable facade, she could not completely wipe that smile off her face. He could easily tell even without using his God powers that the GSX-R he built was one of the best bikes she had ever ridden. He followed Chihiro back into the shop and said, "Thanks boss, I won't let you down this time."
"You better not. I don't know if I can find a better mechanic this close to this major event coming up."
"So what happened to the last mechanic you had?"
"You mean 'mechanics'."
" Mechanics?"
"Yeah, they came as a matched set, If I wanted one, I had to hire the other."
"You don't mean...?" Keiichi laughed.
"Yep, Tamiya and Ootaki."
This time it was Keiichi who's turn it was to bust out laughing. "You hired those two?"
"I had no choice. When you went off to parts unknown and took Belldandy with you, I was desperate, so I hired Tamiya and Ootaki. They were okay workers. After all, I trained them myself, but they left the shop in such a mess half the time, that I had to let them go after a couple months. And they had no customer service skills whatsoever. They scared off more business than I could bring in. You do know that they finally graduated, right?"
Keiichi said, "I knew they were taking graduate courses to hang around the Motor Club and to torture Hasegawa., the poor girl."
"Well, the faculty got so tired of their games, that they voted to give them, get this, Master's degrees in Auto Mechanics."
Keiichi retorted, "Nekomi Tech doesn't give Master's degrees in Auto Mechanics."
Chihiro shot back, "They do now. They made a special exception just to get those two clowns off campus once and for all. Especially after the last stunt they pulled."
"What happened?"
"Well, Tamiya overheard the President of the school complain that his car wasn't running right, so he and Ootaki convinced him that they could fix it and gave him a really good deal."
"I don't like where this is going."
"They fixed it all right, they made it into a drift racer."
"WHAT!"
"You heard me, they tuned the engine up to 550 hp, installed a full drift package with tires, brakes, and suspension and pimped out the sound system. And the paint job...the President was NOT pleased.
He wanted to expel them from the campus straight out, but Tamiya and Ootaki had a very unlikely advocate intervene on their behalf."
"Hasegawa?"
"Got it in one. She begged the President to reconsider, and probably because he had heard about all the crap that they put her through over the years, he took pity on her and directed the faculty to issue Tamiya and Ootaki Master's degrees, provided they leave the campus and never come back again."
"So where are they now?"
"Who knows and who cares, as long as they aren't here. I'm guessing Sora's pretty happy not having to deal with those two anymore."
Keiichi remembered some of the hassles that Tamiya and Ootaki put Hasegawa through, his heart went out to the beleaguered club director. He had been in her shoes at one time, and knew first hand how awful the two crazies could be. "Hopefully, with those nutjobs out of the way, she'll be able to recruit some new members into the club." he said. "Well, I've been here long enough, and 8 am comes pretty quickly. I better get home soon so Bell won't start worrying. Thanks again, Chihiro."
"No problem, Morisato. Tell Belldandy that she has a job waiting for her here too if she wants it. I've sold more stuff with her behind the register than anytime the shop's been open."
"Will do."
Keiichi hopped back aboard the BMW, and rode back to the temple, happy that one more obstacle had been cleared from his path. He had his old job back, with a raise to boot. And Belldandy could also come back to work alongside him. Things were definitely starting to look up.
Chapter 3
6:00pm October 22
Keiichi pulled into the temple garage and put the bike away. He could smell the food long before he entered the temple. He thought to himself, "Wow, Belldandy really outdid herself tonight." Which had to be very hard to do because Bell was such a wonderful cook that she kept raising the bar with every dish she made. Keiichi couldn't possibly conceive of how she could continually outdo herself, but she always did.
Belldandy greeted him at the front door with a kiss. "Welcome home, Keiichi. How did you fare with Chihiro?"
"Much better than I expected. Not only did I get my old job back, I got a 5000 yen raise."
Belldandy clasped her hands with joy as her face lit up. "That's wonderful, Keiichi!"
"It gets even better. Chihiro said that if you want to come back to work at the shop with me, you're more than welcome."
Bell became giddy with delight as she hopped up and down. "I'm so happy that everything worked out so well for you, Keiichi."
Keiichi held Belldandy and looked into her deep ocean blue eyes. "Belldandy, you mean that you're happy that everything worked out for us. I don't want any happiness unless I can share it with you."
Belldandy pulled Keiichi to her and hugged him tight. "Right, Keiichi. There is no 'you' or 'me', there is only 'us.'"
Keiichi allowed himself to be embraced by his Goddess's warmth and power. He could feel her boundless energy flowing through her and into him. Their hearts, as usual, were beating in perfect unison. The two lovers held each other for a few more moments, and then released, looking into each others eyes, sending each other a message meant for no one other than them.
Bell said, "Well, Keiichi. Come to the table. Dinner's ready."
He followed her into the Tea Room and was slack-jawed at the spread laid out before him. Yellowfin tuna, Toro, Salmon, Shrimp, and Hamachi prepared to perfection in numerous ways. Broiled, fried in tempura, served cold as sushi, poached. Stir fried beef so tender and flavorful that it could have been confused with Kobe or Wagyu beef. Rice cooked to its absolute tenderness. Miso soup, exquisite and delicate in its flavor. Pickled vegetables. Tofu. And a light and airy chocolate mousse cake for dessert. So many different kinds of food. It must have taken her hours to prepare.
"Belldandy, this is incredible. But I don't know if I can eat all of this."
Bell said, "I admit that I did get a little carried away. But I somehow figured that you were going to do well with Chihiro, so I wanted to make a nice meal to celebrate in advance. Besides, you don't have to eat it all. Remember who's also staying with us."
As if on cue, Lind walked into the Tea Room and plopped down at the table. She was still dressed in her workout gear, a white tank top cut off at the midriff and white tights. She laid her six foot long Class 15 battle axe on the floor at her side, and nodded at Keiichi.
"Keiichi." Lind said in her usual no-nonsense clipped tone. "How are you today?"
"I'm doing well, Lind. How about you? Are you enjoying your vacation so far?"
"Everything is fine. You have extended to me the best hospitality, and have made me feel welcome. And I appreciate that."
"You're welcome to stay as long as you like. We have plenty of room."
"I appreciate the offer, but I will only be here for a couple more weeks. I do eventually have to get back to work. Although the longer I stay down here, the harder it will be to say good-bye."
Belldandy said, "Lind, if you feel like leaving, I hope that it isn't because we think you're being a burden. Not at all. We enjoy having an extra person to talk to."
"No, Belldandy. You and Keiichi have been the perfect hosts. You've let me see what life is like for a human on this Earth. I was able to eat some great food, go on an unforgettable adventure, and you were gracious enough to let me borrow Keiichi for a date. Plus, I was able to get in some really good workouts. But I am a Valkyrie, and my first duty is protecting Heaven."
Keiichi broke in. "Lind, other than our date and our business with the Eye, you haven't left the temple at all. All you've done since you've been here is work out. Isn't there something else you'd like to do in the time you have left until you leave? Belldandy and I can make time to take you on a nice outing or something."
Lind thought about it for a few minutes, and then said, "I can't think of anything right now, but if something comes to mind, I'll let you know." She then filled her plate with food and started eating.
With that settled, Keiichi told Belldandy about his day with Chihiro. Bell listened in rapt attention as she did regarding anything that Keiichi had to say. However, she showed some concern when Keiichi recounted the part of the story about Tamiya and Ootaki losing their job at Whirlwind and "graduating" from Nekomi Tech.
"I do hope that Tamiya and Ootaki will find good jobs. It pains me to see them out of work."
Keiichi responded, "I wouldn't worry about those two. They've been scrounging jobs for years. If there's a part-time job to be done, those two are already doing it."
Belldandy reluctantly said, "Well, okay. But we should do something to help them out. We can throw a party for them to lift their spirits."
No sooner had Bell gotten those words out of her mouth, than Keiichi had shouted a little too loudly, "No, Belldandy! No party for those two! You remember what happened the last time the Motor Club had their meeting here. Ootaki and Tamiya went crazy, got drunk and caused all sorts of problems. You had to knock them out with a sleep spell because they had tried to force Hasegawa to do something she didn't want to do. No party!"
"But, Keiichi!" Bell pleaded.
"No, Bell." Keiichi put his foot down. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. And I ask your forgiveness. But please, respect my wishes. No party for Tamiya and Ootaki."
Belldandy flinched at Keiichi's angry retort. He had never spoken to her in that tone before. "I'm sorry, Keiichi. I was just thinking of Ootaki and Tamiya, and how we can help them."
Keiichi immediately felt like he was two inches tall and the biggest heel in the world. "I understand how you feel, Belldandy. As a Goddess, you are trained to always care for those people you meet and care about..."
"No, Keiichi. It's not in my training. It's the way I am and the way I was born to be, and it makes no difference whether I'm a field Goddess or a Valkyrie, or a System Administrator. I cannot help but love and care for the special people in my life. And Tamiya and Ootaki are special people to me. I can't just refuse to help them, if they are down."
Keiichi said quietly, "I'm sorry, Belldandy. I just have a lot on my mind right now, and the last thing I want to deal with is those two lummoxes running roughshod all over this temple again. Once things settle down and we can get caught up on the bills, then we can have a small party for them."
Belldandy said, "Okay, Keiichi. I can live with that."
Keiichi looked at his Goddess and said, "Did we just have our first argument?"
She smiled, "I would say that we had a difference of opinion, not an argument. Although I wasn't used to you raising your voice to me like that. You've never done that before."
Keiichi took Belldandy's hand. "I'm sorry, Bell. I just got a little carried away. I never meant to yell at you. It's just all the changes that have occurred since becoming a God have put me a little on edge. Our life together has taken some bizarre turns in the last few months. "
Belldandy continued to hold Keiichi's hand. "Not just the last few months, Keiichi. The four years we've been together have turned our lives upside down in so many ways. We have both learned so much about each other. You have taught me so many beautiful things. We have seen so many wonders and have gone so many places. My life with you has been a true joy. One that I never want to give up."
"Belldandy, would you stand up, please?"
She did as Keiichi asked, while he still sat at the table. He turned and faced his Goddess.
"Belldandy, you are what I have been searching for all my life. Someone whom I could love and care for. Someone who I could spend the rest of my life cherishing. Someone who gives my life meaning." He rose to one knee, looking up at his beautiful Goddess. "And now, Goddess First Class, Second Category, Unlimited License, Belldandy. Will you marry me?"
Belldandy needed no time to think about it. She simply said, "Yes..."